More American Graffiti
This belated sequel which managed to reunite all of the original filmâs actors (except Dreyfuss) manages to entertain and infuriate at the same time. After showing everyone together in the beginning on New Yearâs 1964, the film then breaks down following each of their stories on the same day in consecutive years with Milner (â64), Toad (â65), Debbie (â66), and Steve and Laurie (â67). Whatâs especially interesting is that executive producer Lucas convinced director B.W.L. Norton to shoot each story in a different style and aspect ratio: The effect is at times jarring, most notably when we jump from soldiers being killed in Vietnam to Country Joe And The Fish on stage singing âLooking To Die Ragâ. The pace is once again brisk, never spending too much time on one story before jumping to the next, but, there comes a point about 40 minutes in where every story starts to meander and go nowhere, and itâs only with the death of an important character do we get sucked back in till the end. Also, since we know from the original of at least two of the characterâs fates, the number of âfalse alarmsâ we get (particularly with Toad) is almost unforgivable. The quality of each story is truly a contrast: Lematâs Milner in â64 about him at a pro drag race, starts slow and almost collapses, then picks up for an exciting (if formulaic) finish; Toadâs Vietnam story in â65 has its share of smiles and powerful moments, and Charles Martin Smith does a fine job of showing the characterâs comic frustration; Candy Clarkâs Debbie in â66 is clearly the star of the âfunâ segment, showing her dippy hippie tooling around the Bay area while traveling with a psychedelic band led by Scott Glenn (who is good); while Ron Howard and Cindy Williams in â67 get stuck with the most political (and unrealistic) segment, as the conservative couple get âturnedâ into liberals while witnessing her brother and other protesters getting harassed by the cops (you can practically pinpoint the second when the lightbulb above Laurieâs head turns off and she becomes hip). Sadly, MacKenzie Phillips also returns as Carol, but hers is such a nothing part that she is completely wasted. The soundtrack selection is once again top-notch, as it was in the original, and keeps the film watchable, and itâs nice to see early appearances by Delroy Lindo, Rosanna Arquette, and even a VERY welcome cameo by Harrison Ford returning as Falfa. In the end, itâs Lematâs movie, as Milner retains his title as the king of cool, even if a pall hangs over his story since itâs basically the last day of his life, especially the elegiac yet upsetting and heartbreaking final shotâŚ
7/10